I do understand, we lost our Bobby the same way. One day he was playing with our granddaughter and that evening he had dinner (ate slow) got sick about 3 hours later. I went to bed and my DH woke me and said he thought Bobby was dead, he was still alive but a very sick dog. I took him to the ER and after many test he was DX with hemangiosarcoma. We let him go that News Years Eve and as you said I thought I did something wrong. You didn't do anything wrong except love Red.

I am so sorry for your loss of your dear boy Red. I lost my beloved Rhett to hemangio just over 4 months ago. You will be in our prayers that you can find peace and comfort in this difficult time that you're going through right now.

Run free and play hard dear Red, my beloved Rhett and many other of the Golden friends are waiting for you at the Bridge.

I am so very sorry. I am sorry you had to come to this forum under such sad circumstances.

I lost my golden girl, KayCee, at 8 yrs 9 months to a differenct kind of cancer, a gastroinstestional stromal tumor. She was fine one day, playing with her best friend, our adopted godlen girl, Honey. The next morning she didn't want breakfast and threw up. I took her to the vet--twice she had cuaght in bug and got dehydrated, so if she ever threw up, I took her straight in.

Turns out he could feel that tumor in her somache--he operated, but was surprised she made it thru the surgery. She died as I held her in ICU 48 hours later. I felt so guilty becaue she laid on her back next to me at night and I gave her tummy rubs all the time and I had not felt that tumor. He said if you didn't know what to look for, you wouldn't find it, that he wished all his clints were as carfeful and took care of their dogs the way i do. So I know all to well that these things happened and there is no way we could know or prevent them.

As for getting another, I hve always been one who could not go long long at all without a dog. It is like a big chunk of my life is missing, or a something, if I do not have a dog. It makes me sick to think that Honey will probably be my last dog as I have a lot of health problems and am 67 and I do not not wish to leave a dog for someone to find a home for.. Some people can not even think about another dog for months, or even years, many are "ready" to fill the void as soon as possible. And you are right---no dog EVER REPLACES another. Your heart just grows to allow as much love for the new dogs as for the one you lost.

Your boy was such a beautiful boy, or perhaps I should say handsome. My he find my many dogs already at the Bridge waiting on me. They will be happy to show him around. It is a mixture of English ssetters (lost my first one back in '56), Irish Setters and golden retrieves.

I am so sorry for your loss of Red, he was a beautiful boy. Try not to be so hard on yourself or second guess what you did or could have done.

I lost my boy in Feb. 2011 at the age of 15.5, he had a very good life and a long one. We were blessed with the time we had with him.

You can never replace your boy, he was very special and unique, but you can choose to love another Golden and fill your life with much needed joy. After I lost my boy in Feb., I adopted a young male in March, he has brought joy and love back into our lives.

I hope your pain will ease with time, you will be able to find peace, and choose to love another Golden again.

Godspeed Red

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I'm so sorry. I lost my Bear to hemangio just over 5 months ago.
I did get a puppy shortly after I lost Bear, but I was planning on it even before she died. I knew she had hemangio and only had a short time left, I'd been thinking about getting a puppy before she was diagnosed and her diagnosis actually pushed me into moving forward with that decision.
To me it's not a replacement, as you can't replace something you love. It's just loving something new. I also did it to help my 12 year old lab, knowing he'd be lonely without Bear. I love the new girl with all of my heart, but she's not Bear and I don't expect her to be Bear, she's Kenzie and deserves to be loved as Kenzie.

__________________ Bear 6/2000-5/27/2012

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I am very sorry for your loss of Red. I know how hard it is, lost my heart dog 18 months ago and still have tears, lots of tears and some painful days. We loved them so much, that's why it is very hard to lose them. Your boy was beautiful, still young and losing him so sudden make the loss even worse. Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Run free, play hard, sleep softly sweet Red, you will never be forgotten.

I also want to add, please don't feel guilty. Hemangio is a silent cancer. Most people never know their dog has it until the end.
I had 2 months with Bear after her diagnosis.
She didn't eat breakfast one morning and seemed lethargic, that's why I took her to the vet that same day. She never showed any symptoms before that day. I left a few hours later with the diagnosis. Once they have it, it's already too late. There are some lucky owners who get some time, even my 2 months was longer than many get.